One fo the movements sweeping through the Open Hardware world is that of the hackerspace: a place where people can communially work on hardware, sharing tools, resources, expertise and encouragement. In Atlanta we have FreeSide Atlanta. From their Meetup Page:
Freeside Technology Spaces, Inc., a non-profit organization, strives to be the best in providing resources and an environment that encourages research, knowledge exchange, learning, and mentoring in the Atlanta community, through workshops, collaborative projects, and other activities that develop and support free and open source software and hardware.